Saffola Marketing

Case Summary:

Saffola, a Health care consumer good of Marico Industries Limited is one of the leading light weight refined Healthy oil in the market. The case summary will cover Saffola’s entry in the market, its initial positioning and growth, the stagnant response and unsuccessful repositioning with Saffola Nutriblend from therapeutic heart to proactive family and final repositioning with proper target segmentation with Saffola Gold as the first step to Healthy Heart.

History of Saffola and Marico Industry:

Mr Harsh Mariwala, the Managing Director of Marico Industries, joined his Family Business , the then called “Bombay Oil Industries Ltd. (BOIL)” in 1971. BOIL had formed three divisions:

- Consumer product division

- Fatty Acid and Chemicals Division and

- Spice Extracts Division.

Mr Harsh lead the Consumer Products Division as the Executive director from 1980-1990. In April 1990, BOIL was restricted and Consumer product division was separated into a new entity as MARICO Industries Ltd. Marico was majorly operating into two divisions:

- Health Care: Saffola

- Nature Care: Parachute

With steady and considerable growth of Edible Oil since 1960 Marico industries initiated strategic focus for Saffola in 1990s.

Initial Positioning and Growth in Industry:

Saffola Oil started on a strong note with its higher PuFA (poly unsaturated fatty acid) product attribute targeting the 45+ years male with hearth related medical problems as the target customers. People started switching from heavier oil to Saffola on doctor recommendations. To strengthen the position Marico started and Ad campaign which ends as:

“There are many things that affect your husband’s heart that you cannot control but there is one thing that you can do – switch to Saffola- the cooking oil with the highest PUFA content that actually reduces cholesterol buildup – Saffola Cooking Oil- its Life Insurance.”

Marico...